Flat panel display with integrated touch screen panel

ABSTRACT

A flat panel display having an integrated touch screen panel directly formed on a sealing thin film is disclosed. In the display, sensing lines of the touch screen panel are formed to extend to a substrate of the display panel, on which organic light emitting elements are formed, so that the touch screen panel and the display panel are connected to a flexible printed circuit board, thereby simplifying manufacturing processes and decreasing product cost.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/021,581, filed on Feb. 4, 2011, entitled “FLAT PANEL DISPLAY WITHINTEGRATED TOUCH SCREEN PANEL,” which claims priority to and the benefitof Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0089955, filed on Sep. 14,2010, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The disclosed technology relates to a flat panel display, and moreparticularly, to a flat panel display with an integrated touch screenpanel.

2. Description of the Related Technology

A touch screen panel is an input device that allows a user's instructionto be inputted by selecting an instruction content displayed on a screenof a display or the like with a user's hand or an object.

To this end, the touch screen panel is formed on a front face of thedisplay and is capable of converting a contact position into anelectrical signal. The user's hand or object directly contacts the touchscreen panel at the contact position. Accordingly, the instructioncontent selected at the contact position is inputted as an input signalto the display.

Since such a touch screen panel can be substituted for a separate inputdevice connected to a display, such as a keyboard or mouse, itsapplication fields have been gradually extended.

Touch screen panels may be categorized as a resistive overlay touchscreen panel, a photosensitive touch screen panel, a capacitive touchscreen panel, and the like. Among these touch screen panels, thecapacitive touch screen panel converts a contact position into anelectrical signal by sensing a change in capacitance formed between aconductive sensing pattern and an adjacent sensing pattern, groundelectrode or the like when a user's hand or object is in contact withthe touch screen panel.

Such a touch screen panel is generally attached to an outer surface of aflat panel display such as a liquid crystal display or organic lightemitting display. In a case where a separately manufactured touch screenpanel is attached to a flat panel display, the entire thickness of aproduct is increased, and manufacturing cost is increased.

In this case, a driving IC for a flat panel display and a driving IC fora touch screen panel are separate from the flat panel display and thetouch screen panel, and therefore, it is difficult to achievecompatibility between products. Since the driving ICs are necessarilyconnected to separate flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs),respectively, a manufacturing process is complicated, and product costis increased.

SUMMARY OF CERTAIN INVENTIVE ASPECTS

One aspect is a display. The display includes a substrate including afirst area having a pixel area and a second area adjacent to the firstarea. The display further includes a plurality of pixels in the pixelarea of the substrate. The display further includes an encapsulationlayer on the first area of the substrate, the encapsulation layerincluding an inclined surface. The display further includes a pluralityof sensing cells on the encapsulation layer. The display furtherincludes a plurality of sensing lines on the encapsulation layer, theplurality of sensing lines connected to the sensing cells. The displayfurther includes a driving circuit electrically connected to the sensingcells via the sensing lines. The sensing lines extend from the sensingcells along the inclined surface of the encapsulation layer to thesecond area of the substrate. The sensing lines are electricallyconnected to the driving circuit.

Another aspect is a display. The display includes a substrate includinga first area having a pixel area and a second area adjacent to the firstarea. The display further includes a plurality of pixels in the pixelarea of the substrate. The display further includes an encapsulationlayer on the first area of the substrate to inhibit infiltration ofoxygen and moisture into the pixels and including and inclined surface.The display further includes a plurality of sensing cells on an outersurface of the encapsulation layer. The display further includes aplurality of sensing lines on the outer surface of the encapsulationlayer and connected to the sensing cells. The display further includes adriving circuit electrically connected to the sensing cells through thesensing lines. The sensing lines extend from the sensing cells along theinclined surface of the encapsulation layer to the second area of thesubstrate. The sensing lines are electrically connected to the drivingcircuit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, together with the specification, illustrateexemplary embodiments, and, together with the description, serve toexplain various inventive aspects and principles.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a flat panel display with an integrated touchscreen panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing an embodiment of sensing cells shownin FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a flat panel display with an integratedtouch screen panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a region including specificportion A of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a set of separate plan views showing a sealing thin film and asubstrate shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN INVENTIVE EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, only certain exemplaryembodiments have been shown and described. As those skilled in the artwould realize, the described embodiments may be modified in variousways, without departing from the spirit or scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regardedas illustrative in nature and not restrictive. In addition, when anelement is referred to as being “on” another element, it can be directlyon another element or be indirectly on another element with one or moreintervening elements interposed therebetween. Also, when an element isreferred to as being “connected to” another element, it can be directlyconnected to another element or be indirectly connected to anotherelement with one or more intervening elements interposed therebetween.Hereinafter, like reference numerals generally refer to like elements.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a flat panel display with an integrated touchscreen panel according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is an enlarged viewshowing an embodiment of sensing cells shown in FIG. 1.

For convenience of illustration, some of the sensing cells are shown inFIG. 2. However, the touch screen panel has a structure in which thesensing cells shown in FIG. 2 are repeatedly arranged.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, in the flat panel display with theintegrated touch screen panel according to this embodiment, sensingcells 220 and sensing lines 230 for implementing the touch screen panelare formed on a sealing thin film 200 for sealing a plurality of pixelsformed on a substrate 100.

In this instance, the flat panel display according to this embodiment isimplemented as an organic light emitting display in which an organiclight emitting element, a thin film transistor, and a capacitor areprovided to each of the pixels.

Conventionally, in the organic light emitting display, a glass substratehaving a cavity or plate pattern is joined with the substrate 100 undera vacuum atmosphere so as to prevent the organic light emitting elementsfrom being exposed to moisture and oxygen.

However, the thickness of the glass substrate as a sealing substrate islarge. Therefore, where a touch screen panel is formed on the glasssubstrate, it is disadvantageous because of the large thickness.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, the sealing thin film 200 including apixel area of the substrate 100 is formed rather than the conventionalsealing substrate for the purpose of protecting the organic lightemitting elements, thereby minimizing thickness.

The sensing cells 220 include a plurality of first sensing cells 220 aformed to be connected for each row line along a first direction, e.g.,a column direction, and a plurality of second sensing cells 220 balternately arranged to not be overlapped with the first sensing cells220 a and formed to be connected for each column line along a seconddirection, e.g., a column direction, intersected with the firstdirection.

The sensing cells 220 are formed of a transparent electrode materialsuch as indium tin oxide (ITO) so that light from a display paneldisposed below the sensing cells 220 can be transmitted through thesensing cells 220.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first sensing cells 220 a are connected to eachother along each line in the first direction by a first connectionpattern 220 a 1, and the second sensing cells 220 b are connected toeach other along each line in the second direction by a secondconnection pattern 220 b 1.

Here, the first connection pattern 220 a 1 and/or the second connectionpattern 220 b 1 are patterned to have independent patterns,respectively. The first or second connection pattern 220 a 1 and 220 b 1may be patterned to be directly/indirectly connected to the first orsecond sensing cells 220 a or 220 b, or to be integrally connected tothe first or second sensing cells 220 a or 220 b from a process ofpatterning the first and second sensing cells 220 a and 220 b.

For example, the first connection patterns 220 a 1 are respectivelypatterned to have independent patterns in an upper or lower layer of thefirst sensing cells. The first connection patterns 220 a 1 connect thefirst sensing cells 220 a to one another for each line along the firstdirection while being electrically connected to the first sensing cells220 a at an upper or lower portion of the first sensing cells 220 a.

The first connection patterns 220 a 1 may be formed of a transparentelectrode material such as ITO like the sensing cells 220, or may beformed of a low-resistance opaque metallic material like the sensinglines 230. The width of the first connection patterns 220 a 1 may beadjusted to prevent them from affecting the visual quality of thedisplay.

The second connection patterns 220 b 1 may be integrally patterned withthe second sensing cells 220 b so as to connect the second sensing cells220 b to one another along each line in the second direction from aprocess of patterning the sensing cells 220.

In this instance, an insulating layer (not shown) for ensuringelectrical isolation is interposed between the first connection patterns220 a 1 and the second connection patterns 220 b 1.

The sensing lines 230 are used to connect the sensing cells 220 to adriving circuit for each line along the first or second direction. Thesensing lines 230 are arranged in a non-touch active area formed at theoutside of a touch active area. Here, the touch active area is an areacorresponding to the pixel area of the display panel.

For example, the sensing lines 230 are electrically connected to rowlines of the first sensing cells 220 a and column lines of the secondsensing cells 220 b, respectively, so as to be connected to the drivingcircuit (not shown) of the touch panel, such as a position detectingcircuit.

An edge pattern (not shown) such as a black matrix of a window (notshown) may be positioned on the sensing lines 230. Thus, it is possibleto prevent the sensing lines 230 from being seen, so that the materialof the sensing lines 230 is selected from a large variety of options.For example, the sensing lines 230 may be formed of not only atransparent electrode material used to form the sensing cells 220 butalso a low-resistance metallic material such as molybdenum (Mo), silver(Ag), titanium (Ti), copper (Cu), aluminum (Al) or Mo/Al/Mo.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the sensing lines 230 extend tothe substrate 100 of the display panel from an end of the sealing thinfilm 200 so as to be electrically connected to a flexible printedcircuit board (FPCB) 300 attached to the substrate 100.

This can be implemented because the thickness of the sealing thin film200 is sufficiently thin. Particularly, an end portion A of the sealingthin film 200 is formed to be inclined (see FIG. 3), so that it ispossible to prevent the sensing lines passing over the end portion frombeing broken. Hereinafter, this will be described in detail withreference to FIG. 4.

In this instance, the FPCB 300 is electrically connected a driving IC120 for driving a plurality of pixels (not shown) in the pixel area ofthe display panel. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the touch screenpanel and the display panel use only one FPCB. The driving circuit ofthe touch panel, which drives the touch screen panel, may be integratedon the driving IC 120.

The touch screen panel configured as described above is a capacitivetouch screen panel. If a contact object such as a user's finger orstylus pen comes in contact with the touch screen panel, a change incapacitance caused by a contact position is transferred from the sensingcells 220 to the driving circuit (not shown) via the sensing lines 230.Then, the change in capacitance is converted into an electrical signalby X and Y input processing circuits (not shown), thereby detecting thecontact position.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a flat panel display with an integratedtouch screen panel according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a separate planview showing a sealing thin film and a substrate shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 5is a schematic sectional view showing a region including specificportion A of FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 3 to 5, this embodiment is a flat panel display withan integrated touch screen panel, in which sensing cells 220 and sensinglines 230 for implementing the touch screen panel are formed on asealing thin film 200 for sealing a plurality of pixels 112 formed on asubstrate 100.

Here, the flat panel display according to this embodiment is implementedas an organic light emitting display in which an organic light emittingelement (not shown), a thin film transistor (not shown) and a capacitor(not shown) are provided to each of the pixels 112.

That is, touch sensing patterns including the sensing cells 220 and thesensing lines 230 are formed on the top surface of the sealing thin film200 formed on the substrate 100 including a pixel area 110 so as to sealthe pixel area 110 in which the pixels 112 are formed.

In this instance, the sensing cells 220 are formed in an area overlappedwith the pixel area 110, and the sensing lines 230 are formed in an areacorresponding to the outside of the pixel area 110.

In this embodiment, the sensing lines 230 extend to the substrate 100 ofthe display panel via an end portion A of the sealing thin film 200, soas to be electrically connected to the FPCB 300 attached to one end ofthe substrate 100.

This can be implemented because the thickness of the sealing thin film200 is sufficiently thin. Particularly, the end portion A of the sealingthin film 200 is formed to be inclined, so that it is possible toprevent the sensing lines passing through the end portion from beingbroken.

The sealing thin film 200 is formed to protect the organic lightemitting element provided to each of the pixels 112, and may beimplemented as a stacked structure of a plurality of organic andinorganic layers.

More specifically, referring to FIG. 4, the sealing thin film 200 may beformed as, for example, a structure in which a first organic layer 202,a first inorganic layer 204, a second organic layer 206 and a secondinorganic layer 208 are alternately stacked so as to effectively blockoxygen and moisture from the exterior.

The first and second organic films 202 and 206 of the sealing thin film200 prevents nano-crack and micro-crack defects formed in the first andsecond inorganic layers 204 and 208 from being continuously formed, sothat it is possible to decrease a moisture transmission rate bypreventing an infiltration path of moisture and oxygen and to reducestress left in the first and second organic layers 204 and 208.

In this instance, the first and second organic layers 202 and 206 may beformed of one selected from the group consisting of epoxy, acrylate andurethane acrylate. The first and second inorganic layers 204 and 208 maybe formed of one selected from the group consisting of Al_(x)O_(y) andSi_(x)O_(y).

Although the sealing thin film 200 is implemented as a stacked structureof four layers, the thickness of the sealing thin film 200 can beimplemented to be considerably thinner than that of the conventionalsealing substrate, i.e., the conventional glass substrate.

Thus, the sensing lines 230 formed on the sealing thin film 200 can beformed to run over the sealing thin film 200 and the substrate through aprocess such as the same photolithography process as shown in thesefigures.

However, a risk exists that the sensing lines 230 that pass through theend portion A of the sealing thin film 200 may be broken by the stepdifference of the end portion in the patterning process.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, an area 201 of the end portion of thesealing thin film 200 is formed to be inclined as shown in FIG. 4,thereby overcoming such a problem.

That is, the sensing lines 230 extend to the substrate 100 of thedisplay panel via the end portion A of the sealing thin film 200, so asto be electrically connected to the FPCB 300 attached to the one end ofthe substrate 100.

In this instance, the sensing lines 230 may also be connected to adriving IC 120 of the display panel via the FPCB 300. The driving IC 120may include a control circuit for driving the touch screen panel, aposition detecting circuit, or the like as well as a control circuit fordriving the display panel.

Accordingly, the touch screen panel and the display panel share only oneFPCB 300 with each other. The FPCB 300 is connected to an end of thesubstrate 100 (an end at which a pad portion (not shown) is formed) soas to be electrically connected to driving lines (not shown) of thedisplay panel. Thus, the FPCB 300 can supply a control signal forcontrolling the display panel. Further, the FPCB 300 can supply acontrol signal for controlling the touch screen panel via the sensinglines 230.

In this case, the FPCB 300 is implemented with a configuration in whichan FPCB for driving the display panel and an FPCB for driving the touchscreen panel are integrated with each other.

Thus, in this embodiment, the bonding and testing process of the FPCB300 is simplified, so that it is possible to facilitate manufacturingprocesses and to decrease product cost, as compared with a case whereFPCBs for respectively driving the touch screen panel and the displaypanel are individually provided.

While certain inventive aspects have been described in connection withcertain exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, isintended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display comprising: a substrate including afirst area having a pixel area and a second area adjacent to the firstarea; a plurality of pixels in the pixel area of the substrate; anencapsulation layer on the first area of the substrate, theencapsulation layer including an inclined surface; a plurality ofsensing cells on the encapsulation layer; a plurality of sensing lineson the encapsulation layer, the plurality of sensing lines connected tothe sensing cells; and a driving circuit electrically connected to thesensing cells via the sensing lines; wherein the sensing lines extendfrom the sensing cells along the inclined surface of the encapsulationlayer to the second area of the substrate, and wherein the sensing linesare electrically connected to the driving circuit.
 2. The displayaccording to claim 1, wherein each of the sensing lines includes a firstportion located on the encapsulation layer and a second portion locatedon the second area of the substrate, and wherein first portions of thesensing lines are located on a same layer.
 3. The display according toclaim 2, wherein second portions of the sensing lines are located on adifferent layer from the first portions of the sensing lines.
 4. Thedisplay according to claim 1, wherein each of the sensing lines includesa first portion located on the encapsulation layer and a second portionlocated on the second area of the substrate, and wherein a firstdistance between first portions of the sensing lines and the substrateis greater than a second distance between second portions of the sensinglines and the substrate.
 5. The display according to claim 1, whereinthe sensing lines are electrically connected to the driving circuitthrough wiring lines.
 6. The display according to claim 1, wherein thesensing lines include a different material from the sensing cells. 7.The display according to claim 1, wherein the driving circuit is locatedon the second area of the substrate.
 8. The display according to claim7, further comprising a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) attachedto the second area of the substrate.
 9. The display according to claim8, wherein the sensing lines are electrically connected to the drivingcircuit through the FPCB.
 10. The display according to claim 1, whereinthe sensing lines are arranged outside the pixel area.
 11. The displayaccording to claim 1, wherein the first area has a greater area than thesecond area.
 12. The display according to claim 1, wherein theencapsulation layer includes at least one organic layer and at least oneinorganic layer.
 13. The display according to claim 1, wherein thesensing cells include: a plurality of first sensing cells connectedalong each line in a first direction; and a plurality of second sensingcells alternately arranged not to be overlapped with the first sensingcells and connected along each line in a second direction.
 14. Thedisplay according to claim 13, wherein the first sensing cells areconnected along each line in the first direction by first connectionpatterns, and wherein the second sensing cells are connected along eachline in the second direction by second connection patterns.
 15. Thedisplay according to claim 14, wherein the first connection patterns arerespectively patterned to have independent patterns in upper or lowerlayers of the first sensing cells so that the first connection patternsare electrically connected to the first sensing cells at upper or lowerportions of the first sensing cells.
 16. A display comprising: asubstrate including a first area having a pixel area and a second areaadjacent to the first area; a plurality of pixels in the pixel area ofthe substrate; an encapsulation layer on the first area of the substrateto inhibit infiltration of oxygen and moisture into the pixels andincluding and inclined surface; a plurality of sensing cells on an outersurface of the encapsulation layer; a plurality of sensing lines on theouter surface of the encapsulation layer and connected to the sensingcells; and a driving circuit electrically connected to the sensing cellsthrough the sensing lines; wherein the sensing lines extend from thesensing cells along the inclined surface of the encapsulation layer tothe second area of the substrate and wherein the sensing lines areelectrically connected to the driving circuit.